Solaris

One of the most fascinating works by revered Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, Solaris takes the premise of Stanisław Lem's heady science-fiction novel and transforms it into a film that transcends genre as it explores human nature. For years, researchers have been studying the mysterious planet Solaris, which appears to be uninhabited and covered in a churning sea. When psychologist Kris Kelvin (Donatas Banionis) is sent to the Solaris space station to check in on its crew of scientists, he discovers that they are either dead or seemingly mad. As Kelvin investigates further, his beautiful and long-deceased wife, Hari (a mesmerizing Natalya Bondarchuk), inexplicably appears on the vessel, drawing him directly into the strange and unsettling situation unfolding on the long-neglected station. Solaris takes awhile to get off the ground, both literally and figuratively, with lots of initial shots of the serene Russian countryside, but little forward movement. However, once Kelvin arrives at the station, Solaris pulls viewers into its increasingly tense and claustrophobic reality. Tarkovsky's space age is far from Kubrick's sleek futuristic existence in 2001: A Space Odyssey—it's worn, cluttered and utilitarian, creating an intriguing backdrop for Kelvin's crisis, which is as much about love, grief, and other messy emotions as it is about an unknowable alien presence.